The Latest: Honduras: Vote computers failed, 'not critical' | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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The Latest: Honduras: Vote computers failed, 'not critical'

A campaign poster of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who's running for reelection, burns after being set on fire by supporters of his rival, candidate Salvador Nasralla, during a protest against what they call electoral fraud in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017. New partial results in the presidential election narrowed Nasralla's lead over Hernandez to one point on Wednesday, raising tensions in the country. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Original Publication Date November 29, 2017 - 4:11 PM

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - The latest on the slow vote count in Honduras' presidential election (all times local):

8:40 p.m.

The president of Honduras' electoral court is acknowledging that there was a failure in the entity's computers, but he denies there is any problem with the vote count from Sunday's election.

David Matamoros said Wednesday night in an interview with Channel 3 that the failure was "not critical" and the system "is now functioning properly." He did not specify how long the problem lasted.

Matamoros said a full vote count would be ready Thursday as "all the documentation is now in our possession."

Opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla has said he would not recognize the official results, citing in part the computer problem and what he alleged was manipulation of the count by the electoral court.

Nasralla led in initial returns announced early Monday by about five percentage points, at which point public updates of the count essentially stopped for over a day.

That lead has now been erased, and the electoral court said Wednesday night that incumbent President Juan Orlando Hernandez holds a razor-thin advantage.

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8:25 p.m.

Honduran opposition presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla says he will not recognize an official vote count by the country's electoral court and is alleging manipulation of Sunday's election.

Nasralla says he cannot abide "the results of the cheating system of the electoral court."

The candidate is backing off a document he signed with the Organization of American States promising to respect the result. He says after he signed, computers at the electoral court went down and "that was a trap."

Nasralla said Wednesday night he is the rightful next president "by the decision of the people."

Initial returns released before dawn Monday gave Nasralla a five-point edge in votes over incumbent President Juan Orlando Hernandez. More results released Wednesday gave Hernandez a razor-thin lead, with about 17 per cent left to count.

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6:05 p.m.

New partial results in Honduras' presidential election vote count say challenger Salvador Nasralla's lead has been wiped out and incumbent President Juan Orlando Hernandez now has a razor-thin edge.

An initial five-point surprise lead for the challenger from the leftist Libre alliance has steadily dwindled since the first results were reported early Monday.

As of Wednesday evening, the electoral court says Hernandez has a marginal advantage of 42.21 per cent to 42.11 per cent for Nasralla. Nearly 83 per cent of the vote has been tabulated.

Honduras' electoral court has said it expects to complete a final count by Wednesday night.

News from © The Associated Press, 2017
The Associated Press

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